Ventilating fan unit



Jan. 14, 1969 L. BAUMANN ET AL VENTILATING FAN UNIT of L Sheet Filed Jan. 4, 1967 INVENTORS Jan. 14, 1969 BAUMANN ETAL I 3,421,428

7 VENTILATING FAN UNIT Filed dan. 4, 19s? Sheet 2 of 4 M/VfNTORS Lua wia BA uMA/wv fis/wva 5: H6125.

L. BAUMANN ET AL Jan. 14, 1969 VENTILATING FAN UNIT Sheet Filed Jan. 4, 1967 INVENTURS Luv w/c BAc/MANM BEA/N0 Sam/'72s A 'rr'rs.

Jan. 14, 1969 L. BAUMANN ETA!- 3,421,423

VENTILATING FAN UNIT Filed Jan. 4, 1967 Sheet 4 of 4 INVENTORS Luau/a BAuMAA/N BEA/1V0 Scurzs A TTKS'.

United States Patent US. Cl. 98-33 Int. Cl. F24f 7/00; F04d 17/16; F0411 25/08 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A ventilating fan unit insertable into an opening for the purpose of propelling air from the outside atmos phere into a ventilated interior and at the same time to exhaust air from the ventilated interior to the outside. The unit has two half shells covering the outside and inside respectively of the said opening and bearing against the opposite sides of the edges thereof. Each of the shells has a central recessed portion with a floor at its base. A fan motor is fixedly mounted to each said floor so as to accomplish the particular result of propelling air both inwardly and outwardly simultaneously.

Background of the invention This invention relates to ventilating fan units and more specifically to a ventilating fan unit insertable into an opening in a window pane, in a wall or other partition and adapted to propel air from the outside atmosphere into a ventilated interior and at the same time to exhaust air from the ventilated interior to the outside, preferably through an interposed shutter.

The ventilating fan unit proposed by the present invention is distinguished from known devices of the specified kind by its simplicity of construction, its higher performance and the compactness of its design, characteristics which permit the proposed ventilating fan unit to be used where known forms of construction would not be applicable because of their unavoidable bulk and complicated construction.

The ventilating fan unit proposed by the present invention comprises two half shells covering the outside and inside respectively of said opening and bearing against opposite sides of the edges thereof, each half shell being preferably provided in its interior with parting webs extending substantially through the full depth of the half shell, and each half shell being formed with a central recessed portion with a floor at its base which may or may not be perforated, the floors of said two recesses 'being either detachably connected back to back approximately in the plane defined by the abutting peripheral edges of said half shells and a fan motor being affixed to said floors, or the two facing floor-s being separated by interposed spacing members axially aligning therewith and forming air ducts, and the motor being attached to said air ducts or to one of said floors, so arranged that each of the two shaft ends or driving elements of the motor extends axially partly or wholly into one of said recessed portions of the two half shells and the-rein carries an axial and/or radial flow fan, each fan being adapted to propel an air stream in countercurrent to the other through the fan housing in separate paths so that air is conveyed simultaneously from the outside into the interior and conversely, without mutual interference between the two streams.

Other features of the invention will be understood as the following particular description of embodiments of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings proceeds.

3,421,428 Patented Jan. 14, 1969 ice Several embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example andwith reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a section of a ventilating fan unit according to the invention in which the contradirectional air streams are generated by axial flow fans;

FIG. 2 is a section of another embodiment of the in vention in which the two air streams are generated by radial flow fans, and the motor is contained between widened recesses in the two half shells forming a \bulbous chamber;

FIG. 3 is a section of a detail in a particular embodimerit of the proposed ventilating fan unit in which the fan housing is composed of half shells of different depths;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a half she'll viewed from the inside;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal section of a ventilating fan unit comprising radial flow fans in volute-shaped recesses in the two half shells;

FIG. 6 is a schematic exploded view of the ventilating fan unit according to FIG. 5 showing the interior of the voluteashaped recesses containing the radial fiow fan blading;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the interior of a half shell divided by 4 parting webs; 7

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal section of another embodirnent of the proposed ventilating fan unit comprising a central through-duct containing an axial flow fan and a radial fiow fan working in a separate passage, and

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal section of a modification of the ventilating fan unit according to FIG. 8 in which the axial flow fan and the radial flow fan likewise work in separate air streams, but in which the two fans form a structural unit.

The ventilating fan unit proposed by the invention generally comprises two half shells 10 and 11 of a fan housing which are so affixed to the inside and outside respectively of a corresponding opening cut into a window pane 21, wall or like partition, that the edges of the two half shells, as shown in the drawings, abut each side of the edges of the circular opening in the window pane 2'1 and thus, with the interposition of sealing rings 20, form a gas and liquid tight joint. Each half shell is formed in the medium plane of the housing with a transverse internal parting web 28 of the same depth as the half shell as well as with a central cylindrical recessed portion 12 and 13 respectively, as shown in the representation of the half shell 11 in FIG. 4.

For assembling the complete fan unit housing the floors of the cylindrical recesses 12 and 13 are detachably connected together back to back and the edges of the two half shells 10 and 11 are thereby pressed against opposite sides of the window pane 21.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 a fan motor 15 is located in axially aligning openings 14 in the floors of the cylindrical recesses 12 and 13 in the two half shells 10 and 11 and secured in the centre plane of the fan unit for instance to one of the floors. The shaft ends 32 projecting from each side of the motor each carry an axial flow fan 16 and 17 and each fan is protected from the outside by a louvre 33 and 34, respectively, wherein each louvre is inserted into the corresponding cylindrical recess 12 and 13 respectively.

When the unit has been assembled and the two half shells 10 and 11 of the fan housing have been connected together, the inside edges of the transverse parting webs extending between the peripheral walls of each half shell and the sides of the cylindrical recesses 12, 13 abut, possibly with the interposition of a seal. Inside the assembled housing two separate semicircular chambers are thus formed which embrace the cylindrical recesses 12,

a 13 in the tWo half shells and 11, as will be understood from FIG. 4.

It will also be understood from FIG. 4 that, for instance, the upper of the two chambers in the half shell 11 contains outlet openings 24 in the upper peripheral wall of the shell, whereas the bottom chamber communicates with the interior of the cylindrical recess 13 through openings 30 in the side wall of the recess.

The two half shells 10 and 11 are assembled as has above been described, but they are so fitted together that the positions of the respective air openings are relatively reversed.

The upper semicircular chamber which is completed when the two half shells 10 and 11 are fixed together, will therefore now communicate with the ventilated interior through the outlet openings 24 in the upper wall of the half shell 11 and with the interior of the cylindrical recess 12 in the other half shell through air openings 22.

Conversely, the other semicircular chamber communicates through the air openings 30 with the interior of the cylindrical recess 13 and with the outside atmosphere through the intake openings 31 in the wall of the half shell 10 on the outside of the window pane.

It is assumed in FIGS. 1 and 2 that the outside atmosphere is on the left hand side of the window pane 21 and that the ventilated interior is on the right hand side of the window pane 21. When the fan motor 15 is started up, the fans, propeller blades or the like 16 and 17, which are oppositely pitched, simultaneously draw in used air from the interior and fresh air from the outside because they propel the air in opposite directions. The fan 16 which draws in the outside air blows this air through the air openings 22 in the cylindrical recessed portion 12 into the upper semicircular chamber and thence through part of the circular opening in the window pane into the interior of the ventilated room through the air outlets 24 in the Wall of the half shell on the inside of the pane. Simultaneously the fan 17 which draws in used air from the interior of the room blows this air through the air openings 30 in the cylindrical recessed portion 13 in the half shell 11 into the bottom semicircular chamber and thence through the bottom part of the opening in the window pane 21 into the outside atmosphere through the outlet openings 31 in the half shell 10.

An annular disk 18 is located in the median plane of the fan unit 10, 11 and embraces the fan motor. This disk 18 is provided with windows 23 in the interior of each of the two semicircular chambers.

With the interposition of a sealing ring 19 this annular disk is fitted centrally inside the circular opening in the window pane 21 and is detachably fitted between the abutting floors of the two cylindrical recesses 12 and 13 in the two half shells 10 and 11. This arrangement permits the two air streams to flow in contrary directions, each through one of the semicircular chambers, without the one interfering with the other. In order to prevent draughts when the fan motor is not in operation, a second rotatable annular disk is located adjacent the fixed annular disk 18 and provided with windows similarly disposed to the windows in the annular disk 18. By rotation of the rotatable annular disk the respective windows can be moved either into register or relatively displaced to close the window openings and thereby to prevent air from flowing through the peripheral chambers. Alternatively, an iris type shutter might be provided for closing the windows 23. Rubber seals 29 are provided between the annular disk 18 and the floors of the two cylindrical recesses 12 and 13 in the two half shells 10 and 11 of the fan housing.

If space is restricted and it is desirable that the fan unit should not project much from say the outside of the Window pane 21, the fan unit may be of asymmetrical construction. This can be achieved by using half shells 10 and 11 of different depths for forming the housing but providing the half shells with recesses 12 and 13 of like depth. In such an arrangement the annular disk and the sealing ring 19 would still be located centrally with respect to the opening in the window pane 21, but olTset therefrom into the plane in which the floors of the two cylindrical recesses 12 and 13 of the two half shells 10 and 11 meet. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2 the floors of the recesses 12 and 13 of the two half shells 10 and 11 widen radially outwardly to form a bulged cavity between the two floors for the reception therein of the fan motor 15.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7 the interior of the two half shells 10 and 11 may be provided with several parting webs 28, 28, preferably placed on the cross and extending to the peripheral walls of the cylindrical recesses 12 and 13 in such manner that several chambers extending through the entire cross section of the fan housing are formed when the two half shells 10 and 11 have been fixed together. The divisional chambers in the half shell 11 located on the inside of the window pane may contain humidifying, ozone evolving, heating or filtering means which may be independently brought into action. The divisional chambers containing such equipment communicate through air openings 24 and 24 with the interior of the ventilated room so that component streams of the entering air enter the interior after having been treated or charged in different ways.

In the embodiment of the proposed fan unit shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 the recesses 12 and 13 in the shells 10 and 11 of the fan housing are of volute shape for the reception of radial flow fans 16 and 17 which discharge through openings in web members 27 and 28 which in this case are placed at an angle as will be understood from FIG. 6. The volute-shaped recesses 12 and 13 thus function as diffusers, each co-operating with one of the two chambers with a resultant considerable improvement of the performance of the radial flow fans 16 and 17.

In the further embodiments of the proposed ventilating fan unit that will be hereinafter described, the recessed cavities 12 and 13 in the two half shells 10 and 11 have diflerent depths and their floors are partly or completely open.

As will be understood from FIG. 8 the two half shells 10 and 11 which form the housing contain a fan motor 15 directly or indirectly afiixed to one of the half shells. The motor carries firstly an axial flow fan 17 in a central duct through the fan housing and secondly a separately revolving radial flow fan 17' for generating an air stream contrary in direction through the housing to that generated by the axial flow fan. The radial flow fan 17 is wholly contained in the half shell 11 which is on the inside of the window and operates in direct proximity with the periphery of this half shell and of the peripheral air outlets 24.

The recess 12 formed in the half shell 10 on the outside of the window pane 21 may be arranged to extend through to the inside of the window pane 21 into the interior of the half shell on the inside of the window pane 21, the motor 15 being afiixed to the floor of this recess, said floor being perforated where it crosses the central duct.

However, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8 the cylindrical recess 12 of the half shell 10 located on the outside of the window ane 21 terminates within the opening in the window pane and lacks a floor but it is extended inwardly by a likewise cylindrical flanged insertion 18 with a perforated floor carrying the motor 15 in the interior of the other half shell 11 on the inside of the window pane. The flange of the insertion 18 is provided with openings or windows 23 and extends radially outwardly from the end of the cylindrical part of the insertion. The peripheral edge of this flange extends into the region where the two half shells 10 and 11 are affixed and is clamped at this point.

In order to prevent draughts through the fan housing when the motor is stationary a further cylindrical insertion 25 with a flange is provided (cf. FIG. 8). This additional insertion 25 is rotatable and embraces the cylindrical portion of the insertion 18, its flange being provided with openings 26 and its floor with openings 35. By rotation of this further insertion 25 both the central duct for the axial flow fan 17 and the chamber containing the radial flow fan 17' can thus be simultaneously opened and closed. The butt joint between the cylindrical recess 12 of the outside half shell 10 and the cylindrical flanged insertion 18 may be sealed by the provision of a sealing ring 41.

In the embodiment of the fan unit illustrated in FIG. 9 the cylindrical recesses 12 and 13 of the two half shells 10 and 11 are very shallow and their respective floors are absent or partly cut away. In axial alignment with these recesses the axial flow fan 17 carries a shroud 43 which extends into close proximity with the inner ends of the two recesses and thus forms a central duct for the air propelled by the axial flow fan.

The outside periphery of the shroud 43 concentrically carries a radial flow fan directly inside the air outlets 24 in the inside half shell 11, the shroud itself being firmly afiixed to the tips of the blades of the axial flow fan 17.

It will be readily understood from FIGS. 8 and 9 that the described fan unit can be easily mounted in the window pane 21. This can be done by inserting the completely assembled fan housing comprising the two half shells 10 and 11, ready for use, into an appropriately cut out circular hole in the window pane 21 until the joint between the two shell halves 10 and 11 abuts the edge of the hole. In this position the entire unit is then located by a retaining girth ring 38 pushed from the outside over the half shell that has been passed through the hole. This retaining ring is secured to abut the outside of the window pane 21.

The construction of the proposed ventilating fan unit permits of another useful modification which consists in that only one of the two chambers or ducts for carrying air in opposite directions actually contains axial or radial flow fan blading. In such a case the stream of air propelled in one direction will automatically induce a current of air to flow in the other direction either by the displacement of air from the ventilated interior or by the creation of a vacuum pressure therein.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

We claim:

1. A ventilating fan unit insertable into an opening of a building structure to propel air from the outside atmosphere into a ventilated interior and at the same time to exhaust air from the ventilated interior to the outside comprising:

(a) two half shells covering the outside and inside respectively of the opening and bearing against opposite sides of the edges thereof, said shells having openings for air inlet and air outlet respectively;

(b) air flow means located in the peripheral region of each half shell;

(c) dividing means extending substantially through the full depth of said fan unit providing a first portion for outside air flow and a second portion for exhaust air flow;

(d) each half shell including a central recess portion having a floor at its base, said floors of said recess portions being detachably connected back to back;

(e) a fan motor mounted axially of said unit and having two driving shaft ends, one of said driving shaft ends extending axially into one of said recess portions of the two half shells and the other said driving shaft ends extending axially into another of said recessed portions of the two half shells; and

(f) a fan mounted on each of said shaft ends to propel an air stream through said first air flow portion in countercurrent direction to another air stream through said second air flow portion to simultaneously convey air from the outside into the interior and conversely without mutual interference between the two streams.

2. A ventilating fan unit as defined in claim 1 wherein said dividing means includes parting webs located in each said half shell and extending substantially through the full depth of each said half shell, said webs abut in the assembled unit to define two semi-circumferential chambers embracing the recessed parts of said half shells and extending through the entire cross-section of the fan unit housing, said chambers including openings to establish separate paths for each of said air flow streams.

3. A ventilating fan unit as defined in claim 1 wherein said fan unit includes an annular disk detachably mounted in a plane through the center of said unit between said abutting floors of said recessed portions, said disk embracing said fan motor and having windows in each of said two semi-circumferential chambers, said fan unit further includes a sealing ring mounted circumferentially on said disk to fit into said Opening of said building structure.

4. A ventilating fan unit as defined in claim 3 wherein said fan unit includes an annular rotatable disk having windows, said rotatable disk located adjacent other said annular disk and providing an open passage when windows of said annular disks are registered and providing a closed passage when windows of said annular disks are out of register.

5. A ventilating fan unit as defined in claim 3 wherein said annular disk includes an iris type shutter providing means to open and close said windows in said annular disc.

6. A ventilating fan unit as defined in claim 5 wherein said half shells have different depths and said recessed portions have equal depths.

7. A ventilating fan unit as defined in claim 6 wherein said annular disk includes an interior edge adjacent said fan motor, said edge is oifset into the plane of the abutting floors of said recessed portions.

8. A ventilating fan unit as defined in claim 7 wherein said recessed portions of said two half shells include outwardly widened portions to form a bulbous chamber for accommodating said fan motor.

9. A ventilating fan unit as defined in claim 8 wherein said recessed portions are volute-shaped, and said half shells include two parting webs placed at an angle to the horizontal, and diagonally across said half shells when these have a square overall contour, one of said parting webs containing an air outlet opening of a radial flow fan rotating in said volute-shaped recessed portion of the respective half shell.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,152,614 3/1939 Younger 230-129 X 3,009,409 11/1961 Weaver 98-33 X FOREIGN PATENTS 610,080 l1/1967 Canada.

ROBERT A. OLEARY, Primary Examiner.

WILLIAM E. WAYNER, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 230-129, 117 

